The daily life of monsters

Chapter 14: Faith

Nem gazed into the darkness of the forest, a slight hesitation building in his chest like a swarm of flies, his heart pounding like a drum. It's not like he hadn't left the forest and come back before and it wasn't his first time being away for numerous days; in fact, both of them were quite common. The difference was the situation in which he had left. This was the first time it had been so... hostile.

Ignoring his instinctual love of avoiding conflict, he pushed forward, marching into the trees in the dead of the night, hoping in his heart for everything to go back to normal.

+++

The crunch of the leaves underfoot. The smell of ancient bark. The cool breeze gliding in from the south. Despite only being gone for ten or so days, everything felt strangely nostalgic to Nem. As he passed by a small herd of Lipsit, he decided to take a break, sitting down next to the fluffy creatures and calm his nerves.

"How are you doing this fine evening?"

The creatures simply looked up towards him with their beady eyes, their faces not showing a drop of emotion.

"Well, fair enough."

Nem leaned forward, scratching at the base of the closest Lipsit's ears. Almost immediately the yellow ring around the creatures ears lit up, the creature now suddenly affectionately nuzzling up against Nem's hand. He proceeded to do the same for the rest of the rabbits, scratching around their tower-like ears until their yellow ring lit up. Soon, he had a small family of fluffballs in his lap, their tiny leaf covered feet hovering over the ground as they fought over his affection by being in the middle. Men couldn't help but laugh; it had been a while since anyone had fought over him.

"Don't worry, little guys. There's plenty to go around."

One by one, Nem went through the Lipsit, giving them the affection they so desperately craved. With each ear he scratched, Nem felt himself falling deeper into a serene haze, the vibrant greens of the forest with the yellow glow of the rings making him feel like the world around him was turning into a dream.

"What the..."

Feeling his hand getting stuck on something, Nem looked to see his finger lodged in between the ears of one Lipsit, with something solid snagging his finger from above and below. With a little effort, he managed to pull his finger out before petting each of the creatures on his lap and sighing, looking up at the sky.

"What am I even doing."

The glow of yellow faded away, now replaced with a deep blue, as the Lipsit cuddled in closer together. Slowly and carefully, Nem settled them down onto the grass before turning to his side, encircling them with his body as best he could, staring at their small beady eyes which looked strangely understanding, despite the two having no real way to communicate.

"Is this even the right thing to do? What if they still hate me when I get back..."

Closing his eyes, he allowed the blue glow to whisk him away to dreamland, the tiny balls of warmth on his chest doing the same.

+++

"Wh..."

As birds chirped their morning calls and with the dew still fresh on the ground, Nem awoke. He shuddered violently as he opened his eyes, but within an instant he calmed down, standing up slowly and making sure he was steady before doing anything else. The Lipsit had seemingly already gone on their way, with one of them leaving behind a little something, although more than likely not intentionally. With as much care as his immortal hands could muster, he picked the yellow ring up and placed it around his arm. From taking a few glanced around him, it was obvious that he wasn't going to be able to find them within a reasonable amount of time, which left him with one option; continue on.

Nem immediately began walking in a direction that looked completely random, but after a few strange turns, he came across a familiar sight; an arrow stuck in a tree, surrounded by circular markings. Feeling a sudden burst of optimism, he began running towards the direction the arrow was heading. It was about time he went home.

+++

Using his right arm, Nem burst through the shrubbery, an optimistic grin on his face. In front of him was the cobbled together structure that he called home. He quickly ran forward to the base of the structure, beginning his walk up the ramp with his loudest greeting possible.

"I'm home!"

But his called went unanswered.

In fact, it didn't seem like anyone was around. The clearing was uncomfortably silent. Nem made his way across the bridges and ramps, his mood suddenly sullen and disappointed. Almost by instinct, he moved towards his hut and placed his coat onto the floor and the yellow ring in one of his drawers.

Suddenly, he heard a click. A click that was familiar to him, one that he had heard thousands upon thousands of times. Wordlessly he turned towards where the sound had come from to see five figures standing around the entrance of the hut as if to trap him.

"Hi everyo..."

It was immediately apparent what they wanted. Nem felt his heart sink for a moment, but he understood what he needed to do. To make up for his absence. He walked forward, arms open and was torn apart limb from limb almost immediately. Tentacles popped off his arms like he was a doll and his legs were systematically broken and snapped off his body before being consumed. The largest of the flacara took his torso and forced part of it into its flame, Nem's skin evaporating and his organs boiling as they came close to the flame. After the few seconds, he was tossed off the bridge onto the grass, his head splitting open with a loud crack as he landed in the ground. As his consciousness faded away, he couldn't help but smile; it was nice being back with his family.